Saint John Flames Weekly
March 25, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Saint John Flames News Release
THIS WEEK'S LINEUP...
SAINT JOHN FLAMES vs. ST. JOHN'S MAPLE LEAFS
Friday, March 28, 7:30 PM Harbour Station "Kent Night"
SAINT JOHN FLAMES vs. ST. JOHN'S MAPLE LEAFS
Saturday, March 29, 7:00 PM Harbour Station "Country '94 Family Pack Night"
SAINT JOHN FLAMES @ PORTLAND PIRATES
Sunday, March 30, 6:00 PM Cumberland County Civic Centre
Be sure to catch all the live Flames broadcast on 96.1 NewSongFM in Saint John and on the web at www.newsongfm.com
**All times shown Saint John time**
THIS WEEK...
The Flames enter the week tied for third in the Canadian Division with 63 points and a record of 28 wins, 38 losses, 6 ties and 1 overtime loss. Saint John returns home this week, hosting the Saint John Maple Leafs on Friday and Saturday before travelling to Portland to face the Pirates on Sunday.
THE OPPONENT...
The ST. JOHN'S MAPLE LEAFS
enter the week ranked fourth overall in the Canadian Division with 63 points and a record of 28-40-6-1.
The Maple Leafs, 5-4-1-0 in their last ten games, are coming off a 2-2 tie at Hamilton Sunday.
The weekend contests on Friday and Saturday mark the final two of twelve scheduled meetings between the Canadian Division rivals this season. Saint John is 3-5-2 through ten games versus St. John's this season.
Leading St. John's are left wing Brad Leeb (30g- 25a=55pts), centres Josh Holden (22g-25a=47pts), Alexei Ponikarovsky (22g-21a=43pts) and Aaron Gavey (13g-25a=38pts) and defenceman Anders Eriksson (5g-32a=37pts).
Mikael Tellqvist and Jamie Hodson handle the goaltending needs for the Maple Leafs. Tellqvist, 14- 24-3 through 43 games, sports a 3.51 GAA and a .904 sv% while Hodson, 7-7-2 through 21 games, sports a 3.34 GAA and an .897 sv%.
Entering the week, Mikael Tellqvist ranks second among Leauge netminders with 24 losses and fifth with 1332 saves and Anders Eriksson ranks tied for fourteenth among League defencemen in scoring with 37 points.
The PORTLAND PIRATES enter the week ranked fourth in the North Division with 79 points and a record of 31 wins, 25 losses, 12 ties and 5 overtime losses. Portland, 2-4-4-0 in its last ten games, is coming off a 4-4 tie at Lowell Sunday.
Sunday's contest will be the ninth of ten regular season meetings between the clubs this year.
Leading Portland are centres Trent Whitfield (27g-34a=61pts) and Chris Ferraro (18g- 31a=49pts), right wing Peter Ferraro (21g-40a=61pts) and left wing Colin Forbes (21g- 34a=55pts).
Maxime Ouellet and Rastislav Stana handle the netminding duties for Portland. Ouellet, 22-13-8 through 45 games, sports a 2.32 GAA and a .932 sv%. Stana, 6-10-2 through 19 games, sports a 2.49 GAA and a .925 sv%.
Entering the week, Trent Whitfield ranks tied for third in the League with 5 shorthanded goals, Josef Boumedienne ranks tied for third in scoring among League defencemen with 10g-37=47pts and Maxime Ouellet ranks seventh among AHL goaltenders with a 2.32 GAA, first with 7 shutouts, fifth with 2641 minutes played, second with 1393 saves and second with a .932 sv%.
NOTABLES...
Saint John completed a 9-game/13 day road trip Sunday, going 4-4-1. Flames forward Jean-Francois Boutin, signed to a professional tryout on February 16, is currently on a 3-game point streak (0g-3a=3pts) from March 21 to present. The Flames defeated Hamilton 3-2 on Wednesday, capping their season series with the AHL leading Bulldogs at 6-2-0.
Saint John defenceman Mike Mottau is currently riding a 5-game point streak (2g-3a=5pts) from March 16 to present. Flames centre Jason Morgan snapped a 21-game goal-less skid on Saturday in Hartford.
Flames centre Blair Betts and defenceman Mike Commodore were recalled to Calgary this week. Betts appeared in Calgary's 1-1 tie with Nashville Saturday, recording the game-tying goal and first star honours.
ALUMNI IN PROFILE...
Flames alumni Dwayne Roloson has led the Minnesota Wild to their first playoff birth in franchise history. Roloson recorded his 4th shutout of the season as the Wild defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings 4-0 on Sunday to clinch their spot in the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs.
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American Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2003
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- Saint John Flames Weekly - Saint John Flames
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